Homelessness, storytelling for business

Homelessness: Whalley study; game on a rollStorytelling — a marketing strategy

Homelessness: Whalley study; game on a roll

SFU graduate Erin Harron took to the streets for her recent study on the plight of the homeless in Surrey’s Whalley area. Her interviews with 20 homeless and formerly homeless people and government, business and service workers led to recommendations for better housing and housing management, highlighted the stigma that homeless people face and changed her own perceptions.

Meanwhile SFU Surrey communications manager Terry Lavender’s online game, Homelessness: It’s NO Game, was one of 17 showcased at the annual Games for Change Festival in New York City – one of more than 50 entries competing for centre stage at the festival’s Game Expo. The game, the basis of Lavender’s master’s thesis, shared billing with the likes of A Force More Powerful, which teaches how to wage conflict using nonviolent methods, and Planet Green Game. For more on Lavender’s game see: http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/news_releases/archives/news08040601.htm

Children ask, ‘tell me a story.’ But what makes a story as powerful for adults as children? SFU business professor Ginger Grant can explain. She’ll talk on the power of story at SFU's Surrey campus on July 25 at 6:30 p.m., room 2600. Grant is an international expert in branding strategy — using the power of storytelling as a tool for transformation. Grant has a PhD in archetypal psychology and mythology and is the only Canadian in the teacher/trainer group for the Stanford Creativity and Business program. She directs the Small Business Consulting Group at SFU Surrey.